Today, June 20, 2024 marks the summer solstice in which we embrace the light. We will get 15 hours and five minutes of illumination from the Sun, today. That’s compared to about seven hours and 40 minutes of light on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.
So let’s do something good with this. Let’s play and enjoy the light, but remember, especially here in the U.S. it’s going to be a scorcher in a lot of areas. So what better thing to do than read. No moving, not sweating. Just find a cool place to do it and go to a different world for a bit. I have of course two fine books for such summer endeavors.
One is for the whole family, especially you sci-fi fans. The Last Disruptor is the story of a boy with the odd nickname of “Crate” who tells stories that can come true on an Earth in another dimension. They are called disruptors. The two Earth’s are linked by a quantum bridge or field and are going to collide unless Crate and his friends, Brooke and Ryan can do something about it. Did I mention there’s a secret scientific research facility and organization called The Absurd that’s seemingly behind all this? And of course, no story would be complete without a hyper-intelligent dog. This one has that and his name is Alfie. Crate and his friends will travel between dimensions, be hunted by the Absurd and its agents and ultimately, Crate will have to face off against another disruptor out in the dimensional river. A fun read for the whole family.
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For you adults, looking for something a little more gritty, check out my first book, Potential. It’s the story of three men whose lives intersect during an interrupted mugging in downtown Reno during one summer. Jimmy Ryan, the man who stops the mugging, is the kind of guy who has had all the potential in the world but he keeps self-destructing. Walter Samms is a young man in love who is trying to find a way to support himself and his pregnant girlfriend and is talked into giving mugging a try by an ex-con with delusions of being a modern day Fagan. The ex-con also has some anger issues. Finally, there’s the Rev. Montgomery Merton III, the new Methodist minister in town looking to do some good. His first day he gets knocked down and robbed and faces a crisis of conviction over his calling in life and his manhood. All three men must face up to who they are, who they want to be and where their true potential lies. Oh, and there’s an envelope of money that the ex-con is after. It’s a fast-paced read and there’s not only internal conflict but physical action as well, including a knock-down drag out fight in a church.
If these aren’t your cup of coffee, well, there are lots of great reads out there. Kerry Lonsdale has a new book out, Find Me in California, which has been called an achingly romantic novel.
Richard Russo has come out with, Somebody’s Fool, the third novel about the denizens of North Bath, NY. It’s an old working-class community Upstate that struggled through the 1980s and on into the 21st Century. The stories about the people of this town really are about our own time. The world just doesn’t seem to make sense, where hardworking and a desire to make a comfortable living just don’t seem to be enough to make it. But sometimes, luck, love and a sense of humor can get you to a place you’ll enjoy. I love these books. Also, check out Nobody’s Fool, the movie from 1994. You won’t be disappointed.
Robert Varnon -- R.D. Varnon 
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